This invention relates to carton erecting apparatus for setting up foldable carton blanks having side and end panels and top and bottom flaps integral therewith, and more particularly to apparatus for setting up carton blanks which are supplied to the apparatus in knocked-down form, and subsequently folding their bottom flaps.
Conventional foldable shipping containers of the rectangular four-flap type are typically manufactured from a single piece of cardboard, corrugated board, or the like, cut into a predetermined pattern and provided with indented fold lines to facilitate folding into a rectangular carton. The manufacturer usually folds the cardboard pattern once to bring two opposite edges together and then joins these two edges, such as with a strip of adhesive tape for example, to thereby form what is commonly known as a "manufacturer's joint". When the carton is set-up for use, the manufacturer's joint is at a corner defined by the meeting of an end panel and a side panel of the carton.
The carton manufacturer ships the carton blank in this compact form, each carton blank being a sheet of corrugated board folded in half and having the free ends joined by a manufacturer's joint. This compact folded configuration is designated in the art, and in the following specification and claims, by the term "knocked-down." Upon receipt by the user, each carton must be set-up by opening it to a rectangular shape and then folding the bottom flaps inwardly to a closed position. The bottom flaps are then typically maintained in the closed position by gluing, by a strip of gummed tape, or by stapling. The present invention is directed toward apparatus for setting up four-flap foldable cartons of the type known as RSC (regular slotted cartons), half telescope and the like.
The previously known apparatus which is designed for setting up and closing the bottom of such carton blanks, which are supplied as a knocked-down or collapsed tubularly formed carton or carton blank having side panels and bottom flaps and top flaps which are integral with the said sides, comprises a support which carries a magazine for the carton blanks, a feeding unit for pulling out and feeding a carton blank and a bottom closing means for folding in and possibly sealing the bottom flaps before the carton is filled. The feeding unit comprises a pneumatically acting catcher which is mounted perpendicularly to the feeding path and it is provided extendable so as to be able to catch a carton blank, pull same out of the magazine and together with the carton blank move along a feeding path while the carton is set-up to tubular form and the bottom flaps are infolded. At this stage the catcher is disengaged from the carton and moves back to catch another carton. In the previously known apparatus there is a first linear motion towards and away from the magazine to grasp and set-up the carton and a second linear motion perpendicular to the first linear motion to deliver the set up carton from the apparatus. These two linear motions necessitate a substantial increase in the exterior dimensions of the apparatus. Examples of such apparatus are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. Re. 27,631 and 4,285,682.